My personal and community experience of life with Coronavirus

The year 2020 began with a lot of promises and hope to achieve outstanding objectives. But as the saying goes, "as human as we are, we do not have control over the future but can only hope for the best."

Personally, 2020 was an expectant year because I had a lot of plans for the year. I had plans of visiting my mother I have not seen in years. However, this has turned out to be a historic year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. When the virus started in China, we heard people say the virus can be curbed and monitored from reaching other countries.

Little did we know it will "eat and spread" to Ghana and its environs. The figures got alarming a few months after the virus entered the country Ghana. It had affected six (6) regions with a total of three hundred and thirteen (313) cases and six (6) deaths. I believe figures like this will leave every global leader thinking and infuriated. Thoughts will run through the minds and obviously, there will be pressure on the best way to avoid the spread to other individuals and regions and ultimately curb the situations.

What we did not anticipate finally hit the country. Some regions were expected to undergo a lockdown. This was a big blow on most of us because we have never experienced a lockdown and the thought of it makes one uneasy and uncomfortable. What this meant was no more outing with friends, no more regular visits to the mall, etc. This also means you cannot just get up and be strolling in your hood like you used to. You must have a reason? I knew that I would be able to process all this overtime.

Now, survival remains the most fundamental need. As defined by Freud as preserving life and gratifying basic needs.

Being the Senior brother of two siblings, I had a lot of responsibilities on my hand. I must make sure my family is protected. This means making sure we all adhere to the safety protocols laid down by World Health Organization, Ghana Health Service, Government, etc.

We used to buy provisions and foodstuff in bits and medium quantities, but we decided to increase that and always make sure necessities like oil, salt, shito, sardine. Water, sugar, etc. are always available at home. I was lucky my employer distributed Alcohol-based hand sanitizers, nose masks, etc. so I made sure each member of my household had these safety tools in handy.

We have two gates to our home. I locked one and then made sure if it is not a necessity, no one leaves the house or come in. We did that during the duration of the lockdown until when it was gradually lifted.

Though everything seemed tough during those moments. I must say I have witnessed some positives. The lockdown thought me a lot of hard lessons and maintained my level of discipline. One of them is that the pandemic forced me to spend time with my family and appreciate life more. I valued human life and thanked God for that.

I never knew my house especially my room could be a nice place to be sometimes without any distraction. I structured a timetable to work, learn, watch movies which is my favorite, and what I would like to do when I was tired. I gradually loved my new environment and appreciated it. I also realized I did not need to be out there all the time. All I did was load my mobile phone with a lot of data and airtime which supplemented the marginal cost involved when walking, picking cars from one joint to the other, one area to the other, etc.

People came up with a lot of frightening theories as to where the virus came from and how we can fight it. My vulnerability to this condition is minimal because of several reasons.

One of the reasons is that the virus seems to have the most effect on people with existing health-related conditions. Luckily, I have not had any serious health issues before. And is not to say I am taking chances. Family and I have taken serious precautionary measures to protect ourselves from this pandemic.

I want to conclude by saying things will be a little weird and may seem impossible but do not lose hope yet, God still got us. Covid-19 will not follow us into 2022.